Engagement in Risky Sexual Behavior: Adolescents’ Perceptions of Self and the Parent–Child Relationship Matter
Abstract
The current study examined associations among parenting practices, adolescents’ self-esteem and dating identity exploration, and adolescents’ sexual behaviors. Participants were 680 African American and European American sexually experienced adolescents attending public high schools in the southeast. Results indicated that risky sexual behavior was associated positively with parental psychological control, and negatively with self-esteem and dating identity exploration. Parental support positively predicted self-esteem and dating identity exploration; psychological control also showed a positive association with dating identity exploration. Contrary to expectation, neither self-esteem nor dating identity exploration mediated associations between parenting and risky sexual behavior; moderation tests showed few differences. However, dating identity exploration showed potential to serve as a protective factor for higher risk groups (i.e., males, African Americans), and psychological control appeared particularly detrimental for older adolescents. Finally, youth from stepfamilies showed associations among the variables that differed from youth living in single-parent and two-parent biological/adoptive families.
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Youth who report having positive relationships and open communication with their parents have fewer sexual partners.
“fewer sexual partners (Kan et al., 2010, Kerpelman et al., 2016)”
From Becoming a sexual being: The “elephant in the room” of adolescent brain development (2017) · cites this paper as Kerpelman et al., 2016
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Becoming a sexual being: The “elephant in the room” of adolescent brain development
Suleiman, A. B., Galván, A., Harden, K. P., & Dahl, R. E. (2017) · Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2016.09.004 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
- Authors
- Kerpelman, J. L., McElwain, A. D., Pittman, J. F., & Adler-Baeder, F. M.
- Affiliations
- Auburn University (US)
- Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
- Corresponding author
- Kerpelman, Jennifer L.
- Venue
- Youth & Society
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2013-03-03
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 101-125
- ISSN
- 0044-118X (ISSN-L)
- 1552-8499
- OpenAlex
- W2330942870
- Cited by
- 72
- References
- 69
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 7.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Youth & Society (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Administration for Children and Families
- Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Health and Behaviors
- Keywords
- sexual risk behavior, adolescents, parenting practices, parental psychological control, parental support, self-esteem, stepfamilies, single-parent families, African American adolescents, European American adolescents, protective factors
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